Time to end impunity for war crimes & support the ICC – in full
The Council for Arab-British Understanding’s (CAABU), Malak El Gammal argues that while there have been some important steps forward, the Labour Government could do more to support international law on Palestine.
Post-election, the UK government made some important steps in regard to international law. It reinstated funding to UNRWA, placed a partial suspension on UK arms sales to Israel, and reversed the previous government’s objection to the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli leaders. There are still further steps that the government should take, such as implementing a full arms suspension on Israel and implementing the recent UN General Assembly resolution to comply with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It is essential that Number 10 fully complies with international law on Israel-Palestine.
However, despite dropping the objection to the ICC application for arrest warrants, a recent article published in the Guardian indicates that the government might be reticent in supporting any arrest warrant if issued against Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to this article, the government is allegedly worried about an ‘explosive political fallout’ should this happen.
The focus should not be on the political or diplomatic consequences, but on respecting the norms of international law and the judgement of the courts. At Caabu, we encourage you to write to your MP to put pressure on Number 10 to do so. We need to remind our elected representatives that this government was elected promising a commitment to international law, including in its manifesto.
The Labour manifesto stated that a Labour government “will use the UK’s unique position in NATO, the UN, G7, G20 and the Commonwealth to address the threats we face, and to uphold human rights and international law. Labour values international law because of the security it brings”. The manifesto also goes on to state that a Labour government “will continue to push for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the upholding of international law”. While on the shadow benches, the now Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, also said that the “the international legal structure is something that has been a guiding light for the United Kingdom over many years, and that is why we are signatories to the Statute of Rome. We believe in the ICC and the ICJ… We believe in the rules-based order. We believe in international law… We will comply [with arrest warrants issued by the ICC]”.
On the reversal of the previous government’s objection to the application for arrest warrants, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated “We have been very clear about the importance of the rule of law and the independence of the courts both domestically and internationally”.
What has changed for the government? One year on, Israel continues its onslaught in Gaza, with breaches of international humanitarian law clearly evident by the government’s own admission. It has now expanded a military campaign into and invaded Lebanon, risking further regional spillover and more bloodshed. If the government wants to uphold international law, as it has promised it would do, then Israeli impunity needs to end. Willingly accepting and complying with ICC arrest warrants is the first step to accountability and justice for Palestinians. We therefore ask that you write to your MP to put pressure on the government to adhere to arrest warrants against Israeli leaders should they be issued and uphold the international legal order.
- Malaka El-Gammal is the Campaigns Officer for the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU).
- You can view CAABU’s toolkit for contacting your candidates on upholding international law and ending the horrors being inflicted on Gaza here.
- You can follow CAABU on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
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